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i'm so tired of not having enough milk

my baby is 5 months old and since he was 5 weeks I have been supplementing with formula. it is a roller coaster.... some days I have sufficient amounts and others I need to supplement a few times throughout the day.... my baby went through phases of rejecting my breasts... i've done everything and I am trying so hard. yet, again, i am low on my supply... maybe because I live in a very hot country in the summer months and I am sweating so much.... but it is so hard. Why do some woman have a lot of milk and others not??

Re: i'm so tired of not having enough milk

Breastfeeding is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more you make. Statistically, it's very unlikely for a mother to make less than her baby needs if she is with her baby 24/7 and nursing on demand. Returning to work and relying on a pump is a different story, as the pump doesn't empty the breast as efficiently as baby does. Supplementing with formula can be damaging to your supply as every time your baby gets a bottle your body doesn't know that he/she ate and therefore doesn't meet that demand. It is important to pump every time your baby has a bottle to let your body know to make more milk.

It is quite possible to get your baby back to your breast full time if that's what you want to do. A few questions for you:

What is the most that you supplement a day?
What are the reasons for supplementing (is baby crying after nursing, rooting, etc)?
How many wet diapers a day when you DON'T supplement (in a full 24 hour period)?
What flow nipples are you using with your bottles?

~Jenn~

mother of 2 boys!08/14/98~~03/20/08Birth: 7lbs 12oz, 1 year: 22lbs 11oz until he self-weaned 4 days before his third birthday ... still on occasion ... and happily ************************************************** ************************************************** *****************People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet

Re: i'm so tired of not having enough milk

So sorry you are having problems! I agree with the Previous Posts, however one of the worst things you can do for your milk supply is to suppliment. Some women just make more milk than others. It is unfair to you to try and compare yourself to other women and how much they make. The good news is that you can make enough for your baby without having to suppliment. The more you breastfeed the more signals you are telling your brain to make more milk. The more times you suppliment, the less signals you are telling your brain to make milk. Nurse as often as possible. Even if it was 1/2 hr before she just ate. Since you live in a hot climate, you may find yourself nursing more often since babies are driven by thirst to nurse, by the same token, we drink more liquid when we get hot and sweaty.

Re: i'm so tired of not having enough milk

when I started to supplement he was crying all of the time at the breast.... he was only 5 weeks old and had horrible fits of unhappiness while I was nursing him. my pediatrician told me to supplement. initially I wouldn't. i would pump at the end of feeding getting every drop possible and had it ready to supplement with MY milk the next feeding, but, seeing that he was always on the breast (average 2 hours if not sooner) and him constantly refusing my breast (as the let down was slow as my breasts were never full)and not having ever any time to actually build of my milk i stopped pumping and eventually I started giving him some formula (usually 60 - 90 per day) then there were moments when I decided to stop supplementing and I would attach him constantly... it was horrible because I would feed in public and I was constantly getting comments from women "there is something wrong" "you have no milk" "the baby is not satisfied, he is suppose to get full and fall asleep ad not cry" and I am a first time mother, I started being always insecure and I would "give in" only if he was crying so much at the breast until it got to the point that he wouldn't even try to suckle, and when I offered the bottle he calmed down and ate as if he was starving. I want to be complete and utterly honest - I am an very environmentally conscientious person. We eat organic, I am very attentive of the additives that are in most foods and for me to give him formula I was desperate. I spent NIGHTS crying! it was horrible. I don't know how to explain my complete and utter pain that I could not satisfy and feed my baby. this has been going on since he was 5 weeks old and he is now 5 months. Why am I desperate? I want to only breast feed - I feed ON demand and my baby doesn't make it past 3 hours. I am exhausted, because I cannot give him to my mother-in-law for more than an hour and a half because he needs to be near me when he is hungry. She keeps asking for a bottle, telling me that I need to relax, but I REFUSE to replace my breasts with a bottle but his needs make me ALWAYS on demand and things are not getting any better. My friends who breast feed fulfill their children and they sleep hours. my baby barely sleeps and I often wonder if it is because he is never full. But I do not care if I cannot rest, I insist on breastfeeding but when days like this, where he is crying, never happy, and at noon I had to give him a 120ml bootle, after insisting so much at the breast but he was so hungry and not enough was coming out for him. I guess this is just a rant... I was so upset today, I'm so tired... I have an unhappy baby who doesn't sleep much and so don't I and I am just tired... I just never thought that this would happen. I was very sure of breastfeeding, i had no idea that this would happen to me. it means so much to me and as I have a friend who has a 4 month old and she is full of milk it is so hard to not compare my situation with hers.

to answer your question there are moments where he doesn't pee for hours... I will change his diaper and there is no pee. when I supplement he does NUMBER 2 more frequently. his weight is excellent he is 5 months old and weighs 16,5 lbs. I know that my milk is very substantial... I have an great health diet which must help, but i know because when I pump my milk there is a lot of Fatty milk. I supplement because he is unhappy with what I give and like I said, sometimes he doesn't urinate enough.

Re: i'm so tired of not having enough milk

p.s. the most I have supplemented is around 300 ml - 330ml in 24 hours... when my supple was very low, but I always attach first and if he refused, after the bottle, once he is calmed down I have him attach on mine to try to get him to stimulate my breasts... after a few days it comes back and I need to supplement only 90-120 ml per day and ON a GOOD day no bottle at all.

Re: i'm so tired of not having enough milk

It's really normal for 5 week old babies to be fussy at the breast. It usually does NOT mean you have low supply. It's just how 5 week babies ARE. But a lot of moms see that and start supplementing. And THAT will in fact make your supply go way down (because your baby stops nursing as much, being full of formula). It's such a vicious cycle.

At this point, the breast refusal is more likely a nipple confusion/bottle preference issue. Can you take a couple of days of just nursing your baby on demand, as much as he wants? You may be able to get your supply back relatively quickly that way. Definitely check out that link that Susan posted above.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

It's really normal for 5 week old babies to be fussy at the breast. It usually does NOT mean you have low supply. It's just how 5 week babies ARE. But a lot of moms see that and start supplementing. And THAT will in fact make your supply go way down (because your baby stops nursing as much, being full of formula). It's such a vicious cycle.

At this point, the breast refusal is more likely a nipple confusion/bottle preference issue. Can you take a couple of days of just nursing your baby on demand, as much as he wants? You may be able to get your supply back relatively quickly that way. Definitely check out that link that Susan posted above.

And three hours at 5 months is a long time. My son nursed every 2 hours for the first year and then every 2-3 hours for the second year. Exhausting but normal. And now that he's 4 I look back and I don't remember being tired. It's such a short time when you think about it.

Most breastfed babies go 2-3 hours between nursing sessions. Breastmik digests faster than formula. Formula is harder for their little tummies to digest and basically leaves them feeling full longer as a result - whereas breastmilk can be absorbed quickly and almost completely

~Jenn~

mother of 2 boys!08/14/98~~03/20/08Birth: 7lbs 12oz, 1 year: 22lbs 11oz until he self-weaned 4 days before his third birthday ... still on occasion ... and happily ************************************************** ************************************************** *****************People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet